Behold the Lamb of God . . . .

Who takes away the sin of the world!*

Today is Holy Thursday. On this day we commemorate the fact that Jesus instituted 2 sacraments, Holy Orders & the Eucharist. They were instituted during the celebration of the Passover meal. None of this was coincindence, but all a part of God's Divine plan that he put into motion when He delivered the Israelites from Egypt & told them to celebrate the Passover annually. At that time God gave Moses a specific set of instructions on how to properly celebrate the feast. Those instructions were in part prophetic, looking forward to the coming of Jesus, the Messiah.

Looking back to that 1st Holy Thursday we see what took place. In place of the original meaning we see that by his actions: "Christ had given the passover a new meaning. He replaced the sacrifice of the passover lamb--commemorating the salvation of Israel from the angel of death and from slavery in Egypt--with His own self-sacrifice for the salvation of all mankind from bondage to death and sin. The parallels are astounding." (emphasis mine) (pg. 34, Light for Life, Part 2, The Mystery Celebrated, 1996, God With Us Publications, The Eastern Catholic Conference of Diocesan Directors)

Many years ago I cave a talk to a group in which I looked at how the Passover was ultimately fullfilled by Jesus. I looked at Exodus 12 & pointed out some of the ways it pointed to Jesus . As the Eastern Catholic Catechism so rightly says: "The parallels ARE astounding," So what are some of those parallels?

1st of all we need to go back to Exodus 12 & see what was required to prepare for & celebrate the Passover. (Note: I'm not going to show all of the parallels, just enough to make my point.) We read the following regulations for preparing the lamb & sacrificing it: " Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, "On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock for his family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small for the animal, he must join with his neighbour nearest to his house, depending on the number of persons. When you choose the animal, you will take into account what each can eat. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may choose it either from the sheep or from the goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter it at twilight. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on both door-posts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh must be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with the head, feet and entrails." (Exodus 12:3-9)

Here are a few of the regulations & the New Tetsament Scriptures that show how Jesus fullfilled them:

1. Lamb: John 1:29, 32,36
2. Spotless, without blemish (without sin): Luke 23:13-15 (Pilate's declaration parallels that of Levitical Priest for lamb), 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 9:14, 1Peter 1:19
3. Blood poured out & no bones broken: John 19:31-37
4. Spend time with those who would kill it: John 1:11
5. Flesh of the lamb to be eaten: Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19, John 6:31-37, 48-58, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (Eucharist, Communion)
6. Roasted by fire (fire of God's wrath): Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:35, 2 Corinthians 5:21
7. Sacrificed before the entire assembly (where all could see it being done): Matthew 27:33-44, Mark 15:22-41, Luke 23:33-49, John 19:16-37

There are many more parallels. These are just a few. The authors of Light of Life give us this excellent summary of the facts: "In place of the lamb, Christ offered His own life upon the Cross; in place of the blood of the lamb upon the lintel, the blood of Christ flowed upon the cross; instead of liberation of a chosen people from slavery to a worldly king, He accomplished the freedom from the power of slavery to sin for all humanity; instead of the Promised Land, we were given the promise of the resurrection and life with God." (pg 34, Light for Life)

At each Mass or Divine Liturgy we participate in this same new Passover. It is not a mere remembrance, anymore than the annual celebration of Passover by the Jewish people was. In some miraculous way it is a re-presentation of the sacrifice of Jesus upon the Cross. We are able to be there at the foot of the cross with Mary, John & the others. We believe this as Christians that we are truly there, just as the Jewish people believed that at each Passover celebration they were truly there at that original Passover.

& when we eat what appears to be bread & drink what appears to be wine we truly eat the Body & drink the Blood of Christ. An excellent book that explains all this in detail is A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist, by Abbot Vonier. It was originally published in England in 1925. In 2003 it was reissued by Zaccheus Press. Another booklet that has some excellent reflections on the meaning of the Eucharist is The Holy Eucharist--Our All by Fr Lukas Etlin, O.S.B, TAN Books. & of course there are St. Cyril of Jerusalem's teachings found in his Catechetical Lectures 22 & 23 as well as what is found in the above mentioned Light for Life series & the Catholic Catechism.

In conclusion I leave you with the words of Mother Angelica: "Every time I receive the Eucharist it is more God in me. the Lord Himself said, 'If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man you will not have life within you' (John 6:53). Your capacity to receive grace each time you accept His Body and Blood. If you give God a pint jar, you can't expect Him to put the oecean in it. The Eucharist broadens your ability to receive grace." (Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality, pg 206, 2007, Doubleday)

*John 1:29